Explainer | Who is in the global competition to develop a coronavirus vaccine?

The US leads the global race for a Covid-19 vaccine with 39 research projects, either independently or in partnership with other countries. Chinese institutions and companies are working on 20 projects
Of those projects under way, 11 are being carried out on humans. China is working on five of those vaccine developments, while the US is working on three

Coronavirus vaccine

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 9:00pm, 11 Jun 2020

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From the United States and China to Kazakhstan and Thailand, 30 countries around the world are engaged in research to find a vaccine to shield their population from the coronavirus, as the global Covid-19 caseload passed 7.3 million and the death toll topped 400,000 at the latest count.

Universities, pharmaceutical companies, research institutes and government laboratories in those countries are working on 133 possible vaccinations as of early June, according to data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and research compiled by South China Morning Post.

Here’s what we need to know about the Covid-19 vaccine:

How many research projects are under way?

Overall, the US leads the vaccine race with 39 research projects, either independently or in partnership with other countries. Chinese institutions and companies are working on 20 projects.

Of those 39 projects under way, 11 of them have advanced beyond the “preclinical phase,” which means testing has been carried out on humans. China is working on five of those vaccine developments, while the US is working on three.

The leading vaccine candidate is being developed by UK-based pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca: it could come as early as September this year, according to CNBC.

In late May, a study published in The Lancet said the phase one trial of a potential Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese top military virologists showed promising results. Major General Chen Wei who leads the research team said the ability to trigger immune responses does not necessarily indicate that the vaccine will protect humans from Covid-19.

A technician at the Chula Vaccine Research Centre in Bangkok on 25 May 2020. A team of researchers at Chulalongkorn University led by Professor Dr Kiat Ruxrungtham is testing an mRNA-type vaccine on monkeys after initial tests on mice proved effective. Photo: EPA-EFE

How much money is being poured into the development of Covid-19 vaccines?

Tens of billions of dollars have been injected into Covid-19 vaccine research. About US$2.38 billion has been either earmarked for or already spent on the top 11 projects which are in the clinical testing phase.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has accelerated research and facilitated international communications on a scale unprecedented in history. In early May, it raised US$8.1 billion in pledges.

Governments and individuals have been ramping up support.

In early June, governments and organisations around the world pledged US$8.8 billion to help immunise children in the world’s poorest countries.

The funds will be directed to Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) which buys and distributes vaccines for children in poor regions.

In April, the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a federal agency that funds disease-fighting technology announced to invest US$1 billion to support American Covid-19 vaccine development.

Dr. Nita Patel, Director of Antibody discovery and Vaccine development, lifts a vial with a potential coronavirus, COVID-19, vaccine at Novavax labs in Rockville, Maryland on March 20, 2020. Photo: AFP

Which are the various pharmacological tactics to tackle the Covid-19 disease?

While vaccines are being developed, authorities are hoping in the mean time to find viable ways of using drugs to treat Covid-19.

According to the Milken Institute, a California-based think tank, there are over 220 treatments under consideration. Their effectiveness and side effect risks, however, are hotly debated by scientists and policymakers.

Drugs that can potentially be used to treat the disease are as follows:

Hydroxychloroquine, used to treat malaria, has been touted as a one way to treat Covid-19 patients. US President Donald Trump claimed he took the drug to ward off Covid-19.

Reports from China and France claimed the drug was found to have positive effects. Its effect, however, has been disputed. A May 22 study from The Lancet – later retracted – said hydroxychloroquine is not effective in either preventing or alleviating symptoms of Covid-19.

Remdesivir was first developed by Gilead to treat Ebola, another viral disease that has been around since the 1970s, found mostly in Africa. Countries like Australia, India, and the US have authorised the drug’s use to treat Covid-19 patients.

The low-priced pain-relieving drug ibuprofen could also be used to reduce symptoms of Covid-19, according to Sky News citing researchers at a hospital in London. Some experts say, however, that ibuprofen worsens Covid-19 symptoms.

Which global philanthropic efforts are working on the Covid-19 vaccine?

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s contribution to the global vaccine development effort focuses on providing funds to incentivise vaccine makers to produce enough Covid-19 vaccines to meet the needs of developing nations once they are approved by regulators.

It is the core backer of two charities, which joined the world’s largest vaccine maker Serum Institute of India in announcing on June 4 a US$750 million funding deal for British drug maker AstraZeneca. This will double the company’s global capacity to produce a Covid-19 vaccine candidate being developed by Oxford University researchers to two billion doses. The charities are Davos, Switzerland-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations which the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-founded in 2016, and Gavi the Vaccine Alliance.

Also on June 4, the Gates Foundation made a new five-year, US$1.6 billion commitment to Gavi, a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world’s children from deadly diseases.

The foundation has so far committed US$355 million to support the global response to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic, a spokesperson said in an email response to South China Morning Post. This includes US$100 million to Gavi for Covid-19 vaccines production capacity expansion, with the rest going toward efforts to strengthen the disease’s detection, isolation and treatment.

Bill Gates said in his April 30 blog that he believed the world will only return to the way things were in December before the coronavirus pandemic when a cure that is “95 per cent effective” is found, or when the vast majority of the world’s 7.8 billion people have been vaccinated. The billionaire philanthropist and co-founder of software giant Microsoft, said it would take as few as nine months or as long as two years to develop the vaccine.

Vaccines take time to develop because they need to be tested first on animals, and then humans, that they are safe and effective, he noted, adding it is difficult to achieve a high degree of both safety and efficacy against viruses, citing the example of influenza vaccine which is around 45 per cent effective.

With reporting by Albert Han in Hong Kong

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